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The STaTeof Play
of SuSTainablebuildingSin india
Promoting Policies and Practices for Sustainability
Sustainable Buildingsand Climate Initiative
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Copyright United Nations Environment Programme, 2010
This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any orm or
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No use o this publication may be made or resale or or any other commercialpurpose whatsoever without prior permission in writing rom the United Nations
Environment Programme.
Disclaimer
The designations employed and the presentation o the material in this
publication do not imply the expression o any opinion whatsoever
on the part o the United Nations Environment Programme
concerning the legal status o any country, territory, city or
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rontiers or boundaries. Moreover, the views expressed
do not necessarily represent the decision or the
stated policy o the United Nations Environment
Programme, nor does citing o trade names or
commercial processes constitute endorsement.
UNEPpromotes environ-
mentally sound practices
globally and in its own activities.This publication has been printed onpaper with 50% recycled content. Our
distribution policy aims to reduce UNEPscarbon footprint.
Design and layout by Thad Mermer, the Graphic Environment http://www.tge.ca
8/7/2019 SBCI State of Play India
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UNEP DTIE
Sustainable Consumption &
Production Branch
15 Rue de Milan75441 Paris CEDEX 09, FranceTel: +33 1 4437 1450
Fax: +33 1 4437 1474E-mail: [email protected]
www.unep.fr/scp/sun
UNEP SBCI
E-mail: [email protected]
www.unep.org/sbci
The STaTeof Play
of SuSTainablebuildingSin india
Promoting Policies and Practices for Sustainability
Sustainable Buildingsand Climate Initiative
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About The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI):A dynamic and fexible organization with a global vision and a local ocus, TERI wasestablished in 1974. While in the initial period the ocus was mainly on documentationand inormation dissemination activities, research activities in the elds o energy,environment and sustainable development were initiated towards the end o 1982. The genesis o theseactivities lay in TERIs rm belie that ecient utilization o energy, sustainable use o natural resources,largescale adoption o renewable energy technologies and reduction o all orms o waste would move theprocess o development towards the goal o sustainability.
All activities in TERI move rom ormulating local and national level strategies to suggesting global solutionsto critical energy and environment-related issues. It is with this purpose that TERI has established regionalcentres in Bangalore, Goa, and Guwahati, and a presence in Japan, Malaysia, Russia, Arica and the United
Arab Emirates. It has also set up afliate institutes: TERINA (The Energy and Resources Institute, North
America) Washington DC, USA, and TERIEurope in London, UK.
Table of Contents
Table o Contents Acknowledgements
Executive Summary 3
Vernacular Building 4
Green Building 5
Energy Efcient Building 5
State o Play o Sustainable Buildings in India* 6
Introduction 7
1. Vernacular Schools o Thought 9
1.1 Mera Wala Green 9
1.2 Sri Aurobindo Society (SAS) School o Thought 14
1.3 Sustainable Communities 16
1.4 Solar Model or Green Buildings 191.5 Replication and Way Forward 21
2. Green Buildings 22
2.1 Green Rating or Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) 23
2.2 Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) 25
2.3 Replication and way orward 28
3. Energy Efcient Buildings 30
3.1 Energy Conservation Building Code 2007 30
3.2 Energy Star Rating o Ofce Buildings 32
4. A Way Forward 34
Incorporating Sustainable and Green Building Design Parameters in the Indian Building Sector 34
5. Conclusion 37
6. Notes and Reerences 38
* Note: The State of Play of Sustainable Buildings in India section has been prepared by UNEP-SBCI and
does not necessarily represent the views o TERI.
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Acknowledgements & Executive Summary
Acknowledgements
Author: Ms. Priyanka Kochhar, Associate Fellowand Area Convenor, Centre or Research on
Sustainable Building Science, TERI
The author would like to thank Ms. Mili Majumdar,
Dr. Hina Zia, Ms. Pooja Shukla, Mr. Apoorv Vij,
Mr. Tarun Garg, Ms. Sonam Shah, Mr. Gaurav
Shorey rom TERI; and Dr. Peter Graham rom
University o New South Wales or their valuable
comments, suggestions and inputs in the
research. The author would also like to thank Mr.
Dharmender Singh or secretarial assistance. The inormation presented in the paper emerged
from inputs shared by: Abhikram: Mr. Nimesh
Patel and Ms. Parul Zaveri; Footprints EARTH:
Mr. Yatin Pandya; Jaisem Foundation: Prof. A. R.
Jaisem; Good Earth: Mr. Jeeth Iype; Sri Aurobindo
Society: Mr. Jatin Lad and Ms. Trupti Doshi; Ashok
B Lall Architecs: Prof. Ashok B Lall; Bureau of
Energy Efciency: Mr. Sanjay Seth; Shri S P Gon
Choudhari, Dr. Arvind Krishan
The viewpoints expressed in the paper are o the
author and do not necessarily refect the views o
the institute. The author is solely responsible or
any inadvertent errors in the paper.
Design / layout: Thad Mermer
Executive Summary
The Indian construction industry is experiencinga ast rate o growth with a sustained increase in
gross built-up area o 10%1 per annum over the
last decade. Demand or housing, expansion o
organized retail, commercial oce spaces by multi-
nationals, the setting up o special economic zones
(SEZs), are all increasing. This is spurred on by
increasing per capita income and standard o living.
Energy consumption and associated greenhouse
gas emissions will thereore continue to rise
unless actions to direct the construction industrytowards sustainable consumption and production
are taken urgently.
More positively, the practice o green building is
becoming more popular in some sectors. The
secretariat o Indias bespoke green-building
rating scheme Green Rating or Integrated Habitat
Assessment (GRIHA) has set a target for ve
million square meters o built up space to be
GRIHA compliant by the end o 2012. Further,
the Indian Green Building Council also targetsto register ninety three million square meters o
built up space with LEED India. While important,
this alone will not be enough to mainstream
sustainable design and construction practices in
India. Achieving this requires:
Bridging the knowledge gap on sustainable
building strategies, which exists at various levels
within the industry;
Enorcing implementation o strategies to
encourage adoption o sustainable, green andenergy ecient buildings; and
Conducting research and development on
technology or lowering costs.
Support and cooperation between all the players o
the sector is required. The immediate actions to be
considered include:
Development o a national platorm to project
individual eorts and exhibit nancial benets o
sustainable buildings; Undertaking extensive capacity-building
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at various levels, including construction o
demonstration projects across the country;
Developing a business model to provide a
urther impetus to initiatives to minimize thedetrimental impacts o construction on the
environment and society;
Introducing a green rating or residential
developments and directing real estate
developers to adopt this; and
Developing, enorcing and implementing sus-
tainability perormance benchmarking or
industry sectors.
This report on the State of Play provides a represen-
tative understanding o sustainable building activityin India, which has a unique traditional knowledge,
and is a developing country in terms o the modern
world. The report explains the state o sustainable
buildings and construction in India including best
practices, successes, barriers and recommenda-
tions or urther implementation towards mitigation
o climate change impacts.
Considering the wide diversity that exists in the
building typology across India, issues and concerns
range rom addressing low cost, low energy buildingsto high cost high energy buildings through various
income groups and climatic zones o the country.
The ollowing report has been structured to address
the various schemes (i.e. government codes,
strategies, policies vernacular and other institutional
schools o thought) that co-exist to direct building
construction towards a minimum detrimental impact
on the environment. Various case studies have
been used to explain the indicators of sustainabil-
ity issues with an emphasis on lie cycle and actual
perormance o buildings.
Seven case-studies o institutional and residential
buildings in three prominent climatic zones o India,
namely composite, warm-humid and hot-dry, have
also been studied. Based on the good practice
compliance o buildings, inormation received and
inormation available in public domain, the case
studies rom representative climate zones have been
identied or the purpose o this study.
The ollowing our approaches, which have beenendorsed by prominent practitioners in the eld o
sustainable and green building design, government
bodies, government agencies and private bodies or
voluntary adoption by relevant stakeholders, have
been taken up for discussion in the report:
1. Vernacular schools o thought
2. Green ratings or green buildings
3. The Energy Conservation Building Code
(ECBC)
4. Scheme or star rating o oce buildings
These our approaches are described through
case-studies which are representative of the state
o play or sustainable building in India.
VERNACULAR BUILDING
Vernacular schools o building design are deeply
embedded in the traditional wisdom that oered
beauty and joy to enhance the cultural milieu o
Indias built environment. As refected through
the various case studies, each project addresses
an integrated approach to design with a special
emphasis on climatology, solar passive architecture,
bio-climatic design and low energy architecture to
achieve appropriate human comort, low-energylow-cost community development, use o recycled
municipal/domestic waste as building material;
and a nancial model that may be implemented
or successul promotion o sustainable building
design principles respectively.
The ollowing case studies have been used to
urther explain the vernacular schools o building
design that exists in various parts o India.
1. Torrent Research Centre, Ahmedabad torepresent the Mera Wala green school o
thought;
2. Sharanam- a purpose-built training centre or
rural development, Tamil Nadu to represent the
Sri Aurobindo Society school o thought;
3. Manav Sadhna Activity Centre, Ahmedabad
to refect the sustainable community school o
thought; and
4. Solar Housing Complex (Rabirashmi Abasan),
Kolkatta to represent a nancially sustainable
model or green buildings.
Executive Summary
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The vernacular schools o thought as described
through the various case studies, refect the
specic sustainability priorities, which have been
established in specic regions o the country. While mera wala green seeks to establish common
sense solutions with emphasis on Indian needs
rom local solutions in terms o material use
and traditional wisdom; Sharanam emphasizes
on adopting an integral approach towards
development with a special ocus on the socio-
economic and skill development dimension.
Manav Sadhna Activity Centre demonstrates
that a building can become an economic activity
to empower the poor and exhibits a potential orbecoming a cottage industry or economic sel-
reliance. With emphasis on the socio-econom-
ic aspects o sustainable building design, this
vernacular school o thought reiterates the holistic
approach ollowed or sustainable buildings in
India. Taking this a step urther, the Solar Housing
Complex ocuses on the nancial aspect o sus-
tainability that may be replicated on a larger scale.
In circumstances where it is not possible to address
all aspects o sustainable design, environmental andeconomic concerns take priority in order to direct
building construction towards green design. Green
rating o buildings as described below encourages
adoption o green design strategies rather than a
more holistic sustainability approach.
GREEN BUILDING
There are two prominent green rating systems
that co-exist in India. One system, Green Rating
for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA), is thenational rating system or the country endorsed by
the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE),
Government o India. Another system, Leadership
in Energy and Environment Design (LEED), has
been launched by the India Green Building Council
(IGBC). The Centre for Environmental Sciences and
Engineering at IIT Kanpur, the rst GRIHA compliant
building o India, and the Institute or Rural Research
and Development (IRRAD), Gurgaon, which is a
LEED India compliant building have been used as
case studies to highlight the nuances o the twogreen rating systems.
Both green rating systems aim to quantiy the
environmental, economic and socio-economic
benets o green building design with emphasis
on sustainable site planning, optimized energyperormance, ecient materials and construction
practices, water and waste management strategies;
and indoor environmental quality. The rating
systems also emphasize lie cycle cost analysis so
that the client has an option o making inormed
choices when opting or green technologies which
may have an initial incremental cost with acceptable
pay back periods.
ENERGY EFFICIENT BUILDING
In case it is not easible or a given building project
to be compliant with the green rating system,
energy eciency is addressed as the next major
sustainability parameter to be addressed. The
Bureau of Energy Efciency (BEE) provides an
option or new buildings to be compliant with the
Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), which
contributes to signicant energy savings through
the operation o an ecient building, contributing
to CO2
emission reduction. The Fortis hospital
building, which is ECBC compliant, indicates theimplications in terms o building specications and
benets rom compliance with the code.
Further, the BEE has also developed a scheme or
star rating o existing buildings thad meet the energy
eciency benchmarks as established, to urther
narrow the parameters o sustainability in building
design. As discussed in this report, the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) building at Bhuvneshwar has
been awarded the rst ve star rating or being
energy ecient.
The report goes on to describe the key barriers and
way orward or incorporation o sustainable, green
and energy ecient building design parameters
in the Indian building sector. It provides an outline
o the knowledge gap at various levels, issues
pertaining to lack o eective enorcement o
policies; and lack o nancial incentives, which
deter stakeholders rom large scale adoption o
sustainable design strategies and energy ecient
technologies.
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person/yr in 2001 to 1401 m3/person/year by 2030which is well below the international benchmark or
water stress o 1700 m3 /person/year. Rainwater
harvesting and large scale water recycling are not
widely implemented in urban areas despite demand
or water oten outstripping supply. An added drain
on urban water supply is the approximately 30%
o water wasted each year due to leaking inra-
structure. Conversely, there is a need or greatly
expanding clean water supply in rural India, where
more than 75% o the population does not have
access to sanitation10 /11.
The rapid growth in Indias building sector no
doubt presents opportunities or improving the
living conditions and livelihoods o millions o
people. However, in order to be sustainable the
environmental pressures o increased demand or
resources coupled with a rapidly changing climate
must be addressed.
These issues are now being addressed by policy
makers at various levels. However as in mostcountries there is a huge scope to optimize the
eectiveness o policy by encouraging a more
holistic lie-cycle approach to building. India also
has the opportunity to urther incorporate unique
vernacular building techniques and traditional
knowledge to support more sustainable building
practices.
The following report on the State of Play provides
representative examples o the range o sustainable
building activity in India. The report explains thestate o sustainable buildings and construction in
India including best practices, successes, barriers
and recommendations or urther implementation
towards mitigation o climate change impacts and
a transition to more sustainable built environments.
- UNEP SBCI, Paris, July 2010.
Introduction
Considering the wide diversity that exists inthe building typology across India, issues and
concerns range rom addressing low cost, low
energy buildings to high cost high energy buildings
through various income groups and climatic zones
o the country. The acceptability and understanding
o the term sustainable building is applicable to
various design rameworks and approaches that
have been developed in India.
The ollowing report has been structured to
address the various approaches (i.e. governmentcodes, strategies, policies and other vernacular
schools o thought) that co-exist to direct building
construction towards a minimum detrimental
impact on the environment. Various case studies
have been used to explain the indicators of sus-
tainability issues with an emphasis on lie cycle
and actual perormance o buildings.
Inormation or the study was collated ater
extensive literature survey, discussions with policy
makers, receipt o inormation requested via asurvey questionnaire prepared in consultation with
subject experts and discussions with architects
and users o buildings.
The seven case-study buildings cover six
institutional buildings and one residential complex
in three prominent climatic zones o India, namely
composite, warm-humid and hot-dry.
Composite
Centre or Environmental Sciences andEngineering Building, at the Indian Institute o
Technology (IIT) Kanpur
Institute o Rural Research and Development,
Gurgaon
Fortis Hospital at Shalimar Bagh, Delhi
Warm-humid
Sharanam- a purpose-built training centre or
rural development, Tamil Nadu
Introduction
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Solar Housing Complex (Rabirashmi Abasan),Kolkatta
Reserve Bank o India, Bhuvneshwar
Hot-dry
Torrent Research Centre, Ahmedabad
The case studies are representative o various
approaches or sustainable, green and energy
ecient buildings prevalent in the country. In order
to highlight the relevance o sustainable building
design in India, each scheme is described andthe description ollowed by an explanation o
the case study or detailed description o the
building with emphasis on the key sustainability
parameters, as applicable.
It is pertinent to note that the various approaches/
rameworks, adopted on the basis o key principles
and indicators to address the perormance o
buildings, provide local indicators to the globally
established sustainability perormance parameters
o buildings. Table 2 lists the major issues usuallyconsidered in the methods that attempt to assess
the sustainability perormance o buildings globally.
The state o play, via the various approaches,
(described in the following section), addresses each
o the sustainability perormance indicators and
compliance with locally established benchmarks to
suitable degrees, thus emphasizing that buildingsand construction activity in India are engaging with
globally established green and sustainable practices.
It should urther be noted that sustainable
building activity in India refects the ethos o the
Habitat Agenda, the preamble to which states13:
Sustainable development o human settlement
combines economic development, social
Table 2: Major issues to assess sustainability
performance of buildings
Major issues to assess sustainability performance ofbuildings
Consumption of non-renewable fuels
GREENBUILDING
SUSTAINABLE
BUILDING
Water consumption
Materials consumption
Land use
Impacts on site ecology
Greenhouse gas emissions
Other atmospheric emissions
Solid waste / liquid effluents
Indoor air quality, lighting, acoustics
Longevity, adaptability, flexibility
Operations and maintenance
Social and cultural issues
Economic considerations
Urban / planning / transportation issues
Source: UNEP (2008)12
Introduction
Project name Location(City, State)
Climate zone Building type
1 Centre for Environmental Sciences and EngineeringBuilding, at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur
Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh Composite Institutional
2 Institute of Rural Research and Development Gurgaon, Haryana Composite Institutional
3 Fortis Hospital at Shalimar Bagh New Delhi, Delhi Composite Commercial
4 Sharanam Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu Warm-humid Institutional
5 Solar Housing Complex (Rabirashmi Abasan) Kolkatta, West Bengal Warm-humid Residential
6 Reserve Bank of India Bhuvneshwar, Orissa Warm-humid Institutional
7 Torrent Research Centre Ahmedabad, Gujarat Hot-dry Institutional
Table 1: Building Case Study Locations, Climate Zone and Type,
Source: TERI, 2010
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development and environmental protection, withull respect or all human rights and undamental
reedoms, including the right to development,
and oers a means o achieving the world o
greater stability and peace, built on ethical and
spiritual vision.
The timeline in Figure 1 maps the evolution o
architecture for sustainability in India. This
movement is rooted in traditional wisdom that
has provided indigenous solutions to each crisis
situation that has arisen over time.
The our approaches, namely the vernacular
school o thought, green rating or buildings,
the ECBC compliance o buildings; and the
star rated buildings are extensions to the time
line shown in Figure 1, and have been used to
capture the current state o play o sustainable
buildings in India.
1. Vernacular Schools o
Thought
Through vernacular approaches to building design,construction and operation, the built environment
evolves to comply with the modern day requirements
and unctions, while at the same time integrating
the climate responsive architecture inherent to
India. As is refected in the ollowing case studies,
each project addresses an integrated approach
to sustainable design with a special emphasis on
climatology, solar passive architecture, bio-climatic
design and low energy architecture to achieve
appropriate human comort, use o recycled
municipal/domestic waste as building material; anda model solar housing that may be implemented
or successul promotion o green building design
principles respectively.
Green building techniques have traditionally been
integrated with economic, social and cultural con-
siderations. Thus, vernacular building knowledge
has traditionally addressed what we now consider to
be sustainability. The following case studies have
been used to urther explain the vernacular schools
o thought that exist in various parts o the country.
1.1 MERA WALA GREEN
Mera Wala15 or my kind of green attempts to
clarify that green is only a direction for achieving
greater sustainability, and not a recipe in which
1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
Middle East War
Climatology
Solar Passive Architecture
Bio-climatic Design
Low Energy Architecture
Environmentally Sustainable Architecture
Architecture or
Sustainable Development
Oil Crisis Energy Eciency Initiatives
Alternative Energy Programs
Rio SummitHabitat Agenda
Iraq War
Figure 1: Timeline depicting the philosophies and objectives of sustainability
Source: Lall, A.B.(2006). Ashok B Lall Architects14
Vernacular Schools of Thought
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o the three large air intake towers located above
the central corridors o each laboratory building.
Evaporation o the ne mist serves to cool the
air which then descends slowly through thecentral corridor space via the openings on each
side of the walkway (Figure 3a/b). At each level,
sets o hopper windows designed to catch the
descending fow, can be used to divert some o
this cooled air into the adjacent spaces. Having
passed through the space, the air may then exit
via high level glass louvered openings which
connect directly to the perimeter exhaust air
towers. Night time ventilation is also an option
during this season.
During the warm humid monsoon season whenthe use o microniser would be inappropriate, the
ceiling ans can be brought into operation to provide
additional air movement in the oces and laboratories.
In the cooler season the operating strategy is
designed to control the ventilation, particularly at
night, to minimize heat losses by the users adjusting
the hopper windows and louvered openings in their
individual spaces to suit their requirements.
Figure 3a: Section of a PDEC system
Source: Patel,N.(2007). Panika Team
Vernacular Schools of Thought
SECTION
LABORATORY BLOCK
BUILDING 2
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The implementation of mera wala green principles
o dening human comort, understanding and
identiying needs or a long time scenario and
maximizing the use o traditional wisdom indesign to pursue goals, as described earlier
have resulted in signicant benets or the
environment, building occupants and clients
who have made the capital and operational
expenditure investments or the complex.
The results of complying with the mera wala green
philosophy have been listed as follows:
200 tonnes o air-conditioning load saved;
Summer temperatures are maintained at28-32C;
6 to 9 air changes/hour on different oors in
summer, including in a chemical laboratory;
The temperature fuctuations inside do not
exceed 3-4 C, over 24 hour period, when
outside fuctuations are 14-17 C;
Figure 3b: Plan of a PDEC system
Source: Patel,N.(2007). Panika Team
FIRST FLOOR PLAN
LABORATORY BLOCK
BUILDING 2
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The site, landscape and ecological issues have
been addressed by integrating the ollowing
activities through the construction process:
Illegal mud quarrying was stopped to restore
the ecological landscape o site.
Concerted eorts at soil healing through
plantation o new indigenous fowering trees
nurtured by organic methods, bunding and
mulching were undertaken towards revival o
a local drip irrigation system has reduced the
irrigation water requirement by 75%.
Water has been conserved through ground
water recharge wells, trenches and contour
bunds. Surace run-o diverted to a reservoiror re-use in irrigation.
Top soil rom areas demarcated or construction
careully removed and stored separately or
use in gardening.
The entire building has been designed around
existing trees and no tree has been cut.
Climatic and cultural response has been addressed
in the following way:
The design oSharanam has been inspired bythe careul study o traditional Tamil buildings,
namely, temples, Chettinad houses and local
vernaculars, which demonstrate a strikingly
similar response to the year-round hot and
humid climate o Tamil Nadu, i.e. shade rom
the intense heat and maximum ventilation to
combat the high humidity.
Several solar passive strategies have been
employed to achieve thermal comort in
Sharanam. Some of them are: building
orientation that is perpendicular to thepredominant summer breeze, evaporative
cooling through water bodies, eective use o
piers or unneling breeze, large enestrations,
increased height o the building and roo
overhangs for maximising stack effect.
Green building materials and appropriate, innovative
technologies have been used. The ocus has been
to minimize the use o energy intensive and envi-
ronmentally polluting materials and equipment, and
to demonstrate use o environmentally responsivematerials and sustainable technologies.
Earth has been used as the primary building
material in two ways:
1. Rammed earth foundations: Foundation
pits have been precisely dug and the same
excavated earth sieved, mixed and rammed to
ensure zero wastage o raw material. No soil
has been brought from outside (Figure 4).
2. Compressed Stabilised Earth Blocks (CSEBs)have been manuactured with earth rom
the lowest point on site. Almost 100,000
custom-made CSEBs, stabilized with only
5% cement have been made in nine dierent
sizes or the main superstructure. Soil or
these blocks was procured rom a small area
measuring 9 x 15 x 1.5 m which is integrated
into the design as the surace run-o reservoir.
Enormous environmental, structural and cost
benets have been realised using CSEBsmanuactured at Sharanam. In comparison to the
locally available wire cut bricks, the CSEBs are 4
times cheaper, 10 times less polluting, and 3 times
as strong and o a ar superior quality.19
The aim has been to design and construct a strong
roo, beam, oundation etc. using the least amount
of material (e.g. the main roof, which is a segmental
vault in earth spans 9.5m and is 42m long). It has
been built with 36,850 custom-made CSEBs
with the roo thickness reduced to only 9 cm atthe key stone. The CSEB masonry uses stabilized
Figure 4: Rammed foundations
Source: Lad, J.(2009). Sri Aurobindo Society
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ability. Here, the act o building is seen as a means
o sel-development or all concerned.
In addition to demonstrating low environmentalimpacts the project has been successful in:
Redening the role o the architect as a
hands-on proessional engaging in the wider,
inter-disciplinary context o development.
Instilling the wider values of modernity into
the process quality, precision, discipline
and organization.
Eliminating the contractor, which removes the
heavy percentage cuts (about 30% generally)
taken by brokers and ensures all workers receivetheir due wage on time since the architects
are leading the construction by training local
unskilled workers rom surrounding villages
during the process o construction.
Skilled local workers e.g. masons, have
their skills upgraded and introduced to new
techniques and higher standards o work.
The cost o the unique superstructure is
40% cheaper than conventional reinorced
concrete buildings.
1.3 SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES
The design philosophy and considerations o
the sustainable communities school o thought20
revolve around, and are inspired by, Gandhian
principles o enlightenment o the poor and the
oppressed, advocacy o sanitation, and education
o the poor. It is propagated by Manav Sadhna,
a non-governmental organisation which ollows
the philosophy o love all and serve all; and is
engaged in constructive humanitarian projectsthat cut across barriers o class and religion while
addressing issues aced by socio-economically
neglected segments o society. Non-polluting
environment, economic empowerment and
aordable built orms are the three key dimensions
o this initiative.
Considering that nearly 27.4 million tonnes o
waste is produced daily in the urban centres
o India, and that cities like Ahmedabad alone
produce 2750 metric tonnes21 the initiative is anattempt to recycle municipal and domestic waste
into building materials.
Vernacular Schools of Thought
Figure 5: Precision being executed at site
Source: Lad, J.(2009). Sri Aurobindo Society
earth mortar which is 1 mm thick and allows 140
tonne roof to be built using only 33 bags of cement
(Figure 5).
Environmental practices and resource management
practiced on site include:
Use o renewable energy in the building design.
Rain water harvesting including segregation
o roo-top and surace run-o with separate
storage o roo-top water or potable purposes.
Recycled and treated waste rom green toilets
and kitchen used or irrigation.
Construction methods used ensure zero
construction waste.
The integral approach at Sharanam, goes
beyond providing a green building as a nished
product that can be quantitatively evaluated
through carbon emissions or numbers in energy
audits. It is the integral approach towards
building Sharanam, which includes not only the
cultural and climatic context o Tamil Nadu and
technological context o sustainability, but also the
wider human dimension and the social context o
rural development, which has contributed to the
greenness of Sharanam. As such, the projectprovides a qualitative expression o a process o
building that constitutes architecture or sustain-
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Manav Sadhna Activity Centre, Ahmedabad
The sustainable communities approach has
been applied in the development o the Manav
Sadhna Activity Centre, which is located amidst
the largest squatter settlement o Ahmedabad.
The multi purpose activity centre serves as an
inormal school or young children, provides
evening education or adults and serves as a
training centre and activity workshop or the
manuacturing o crat based products by women
and elderly. The campus also includes a dormitory,
an administrative unit and an all-religion meditation
unit (Figure 6).
The campus is built using components preparedthrough recycling municipal and domestic
waste. This process simultaneously addresses
environmental concerns, economic issues and
aordable housing. Since municipal waste rom
the domestic sector is used or producing building
components, it helps to reduce waste as pollution.
Through value addition processes o recycling the
waste, it provides a means o economic activity
as well as a sense o empowerment or the poor.
Finally, as the recycled building components arecheaper and o higher quality than the conventional
materials, they provide aordable and superior
quality building alternatives or the urban poor.
The project also demonstrates that building can
become an economic activity that empowers the
poor by providing the potential o becoming a
cottage industry or economic sel-reliance.
The campus is built as a live demonstration or
the application o recycled waste as aordable,aesthetically pleasing and ecient building
components (Figure 7). Building products
manuactured rom municipal and domestic waste
are used in the walls, roos slabs, doors and
windows. Materials and products were congured
to enable construction with simple hand tools.
Figure 6: Panoramic view of the activity centre
Source: Pandya, Y. (2009). Footprints EARTH
Figure 7: Inner partition walls made from vegetable crate wood panelling
Source: Pandya, Y. (2009). Footprints EARTH
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reusing and recycling waste material; it gives a new
meaning to the understanding and applicability o
sustainable habitats.
1.4 SOLAR MODEL FOR GREEN
BUILDINGS
Indias rst Solar Housing Complex22 (Rabirashmi
Abasan), has been constructed in the New Town
area o Kolkatta city in the State o West Bengal.
The project has been executed by the West
Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency
(WBREDA) with partial support of Ministry of New
and Renewable Energy, Government o India and
State government agencies.
Solar Housing Complex (Rabirashmi
Abasan)
This is the rst building integrated photo voltaic
(BIPV) project in India using the net metering
system o power transer to grid, implemented
under the newly ormulated policy guidelines
o the West Bengal State Electricity Regulatory
Commission (WBERC). The housing complex
(Figure 10) comprises twenty ve reasonably
priced plush bungalows, a community hall and a
swimming pool developed on a 7125 square metre
plot in New Town Kolkata.
A nancially viable model was developed in
order to promote energy ecient and renewable
energy based housing. Since most projects are
owner driven, this is a unique example where the
developer community has driven the initiative to
showcase that to build green is not expensive.
A public private partnership was established
whereby the nances were put together by seeking
50% advance (of the total cost of each house)
rom independent house owners at the beginning.
Figure 10: Rabirashmi Abasan
Source: Majumdar,M.(2008). TERI
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The State and Central governments contributed
equivalent o USD 10000023 out o the total project
cost o USD $2200000 -inclusive o cost o land
(which was provided to the government at a 10%
discount as is the norm in New Town area).
Key sustainable design parameters
The key principles o green building design such
as site planning, energy and water eciency,
use o appropriate materials and good indoor
environmental quality have been maintained.
Further, principles o sustainable building design
have also been addressed by devising suitable
economic models or owners o houses and
addressing social and cultural requirements byplanning or and providing areas and buildings or
community activities.
The complex is a unique model in India and has
been developed on the concept of zero use of
conventional electricity. The ollowing issues have
been addressed during the planning, design and
construction o the sustainable housing complex.
a. Site planning
Maximum solar and wind access to individualhouses in the hot and humid climate zone o
Kolkatta.
Gravity-based sewerage system to reduce
sewerage pumping energy
Appropriate landscaping to modulate air fows
within site, divert air fows to rooms, shade
paved areas (to reduce heat island effect)
Stand alone high mast solar street lights with
battery at the top and high power fuorescent
lights.
Battery operated pick-up van. Solar PV operated name plate and signage.
Solar PV operated garden lights.
b. Building envelope and system efciency
Passive solar eatures with swimming pool in
South
Solar Chimney
Adequate ventilation and natural lighting
Use of Light Emitting Diodes (LED)/Compact
Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) lighting xtures
Energy ecient electrical appliances have beeninstalled in the houses and the complex
c. Use o renewable energy
Outdoor lighting using solar photovoltaic based
street lighting. All the 17 streetlights are tted
with solar photovoltaic panels. There is a swimming pool heated by solar energy.
Evacuated tube collector (ETC) based solar
water heater of 130 litres per day (lpd) capacity
to meet hot water requirements. The small
water tank in the solar heater has a thermal
insulation which provides round-the-clock hot
water supply.
2.0 kW roo top solar PV with grid connectivity,
metering and stand alone acility or 4 hours
operation. Each bungalow has own power
plant on the rootop, comprising a solarphotovoltaic panel with a capacity o two
kilowatts. Household gadgets and electric
installations can run on solar power during
the day. Post sunset, with the generation
dwindling, the system automatically switches
to grid supplied electricity.
The PV system also has an in-built power
back-up system, which stores around 3
kilowatts o power. So, in case o an emergency
at night, say during power cuts, one can switch
to the back-up to harness stored power. Aninverter helps the switchover post-sunset. All
residents have been advised to opt or LEDs
and CFLs or lighting.
d. Water efciency
Use o pervious paving to maximize
groundwater recharge
Hydro-pneumatic water supply system with
40% less energy consumption.
e. Economic easibility or the owner
Each house in the complex was priced ranging
rom USD 86,000 to USD 90,000 or a built-up
space 165 square metres with an open area
o 80 square metres. The land area or each
house is 200 square metres. Each owner has
rights to the land and generates own power or
domestic use as well as or eeding the grid.
Since net metering is being adopted, the users
export electricity to the grid and thus all in the
lower consumption (and thereby tariff) slab.
The option o net metering can also be used
when the house is unoccupied.
Vernacular Schools of Thought
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. Social and cultural considerations
A community centre and a swimming pool
have been provided or use by the occupants
WBREDA is in-charge o general maintenance
or the rst year while each installation be
it the heater, inverter or solar lights comes
with a ve-year guarantee.
g. Urban planning and transportation
Ecient inrastructure planning by minimized
road lengths, aggregate utility corridor
Consolidated pedestrian and automobile paths
Centralized car parking
Use o battery-operated vehicles or intra-site
transportation
The vernacular school o thought as described
through the various case studies refects the
specic sustainability priorities, which have been
established in specic regions o the country. While
mera wala green seeks to establish common
sense solutions with emphasis on local needs
rom Indian solutions in terms o material use and
traditional wisdom, Sharanam adopts an integrated
approach towards development with a specialocus on the socio-economic and skill-develop-
ment dimension.
Manav Sadhna Activity Centre demonstrates
that a building can become an economic activity
to empower the poor and exhibits potential o
becoming a cottage industry or economic sel-
reliance. In its emphasis on the socio-economic
aspects o sustainable building design, the
vernacular school o thought iterates the holistic
approach ollowed or sustainable buildings in
India. Taking this a step urther, the Solar HousingComplex ocuses on the sustainability o the
project in ways that make a living complex which
is aordable or middle class consumers.
In scenarios where it is not possible to address
all aspects o sustainable design, environmental
and economic concerns take priority in order
to direct building construction towards green
design. Green rating o buildings as described
below encourages adoption of green rather than
sustainable design strategies.
1.5 REPLICATION AND WAY
FORWARD
The vernacular design and construction techniques
ollow an integrated approach. However, stresses
on land availability, constraints on time or
design and construction o buildings, issues o
uture saleability o space and perceived notions
o development, result in adoption o popular
models o design and construction that are notclimate responsive. Table 3 provides information
on the GRIHA recommended energy perormance
indices for new commercial/ institutional
buildings. In comparison with such perormance
benchmarks, the energy consumption and
associated green house gas emissions rom the
popular models o unsustainable institutional
buildings are high (approximately 300 kWh per
Table 3: Energy performance index for air-conditioned/non-air-conditioned buildings in India
Climate classification EPI day-time occupancy@ 5 days/ week
EPI 24 hours occupancy@ 7 days/ week
Air-conditioned buildings (commercial)
Moderate 120 kWh/m2/annum 350 kWh/m 2/annum
Composite / warm and humid/ hot and dry 140 kWh/m2/annum 450 kWh/m 2/annum
Air-conditioned buildings (residential)
Composite/ warm and humid/ hot and dry 200 kWh/m2/annum
Non-air-conditioned buildings
Moderate 20 kWh/m2/annum 85 kWh/m 2/annum
Composite / warm and humid/ hot and dry 25 kWh/m2/annum 100 kWh/m 2/annum
Notes: kWh/m2/annum - kilowatt hour per square metre per annum: EPI - Energy Perormance Index
Source: GRIHA, TERI 2009
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square metre) as compared to approximately 150kWh per square metre commonly achieved in
vernacular and energy ecient buildings. Further,
the BEE star rating or existing buildings and the
Energy Performance Index (EPIs) achieved by new
buildings on compliance with ECBC also refect
the range as mentioned above.
In order to expand the acceptability and implemen-
tation o the vernacular approach to design and
construction o buildings, the ollowing issues need
to be addressed:
Knowledge dissemination and capacity
building
Integration o incentive with initiative;
Conducive energy pricing;
Net metering; and
R&D on integration o renewable energy
or multi-storey and high rise residential
apartments.
In order to address these issues it is importantor the building sector in India to ollow a strategy
that can:
Include human resources o the semi skilled and
skilled personnel in the growth o construction
trades while enhancing knowledge and skill;
Ensure a wider participation in the economic
processes and promote equitable distribution
o wealth; and
Develop ecient utilization o natural and
low-process energy materials to meetcontemporary demands- as an alternative
to the current trend towards high process-
energy materials thereby limiting the impact
o building production on greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions.
2. Green Buildings
Green buildings in India are dened by the perormancecriteria used by green building rating schemes. Green
rating systems or buildings measure and quantiy
the environmental perormance o a given building.
India currently has two local green rating systems or
buildings that address indicators and benchmarks or
performance issues of global concern. They are:
Green Rating or Integrated Habitat Assessment
(GRIHA); and
Leadership in Energy and Environment Design
(LEED)
Even though green rated building may be environ-
mentally riendly, there exist schools o thought which
do not consider rated buildings to be sustainable.
However, the prime objective o these green building
rating systems in India is to rate buildings based on
their meeting or exceeding predened goals and
benchmarks24 on the following broad criteria:
Sustainable site planning
Optimized energy perormance Ecient materials and construction practices
Water and waste management strategies
Indoor environmental quality
Rating systems or buildings are popular in India
because they enable:
Quantication o benets accrued through
energy savings, water savings, etc.;
Decision-making based on lie cycle costs;
Increased motivation or users and owners toull their commitment to the environment;
Generation o awareness o the need or sus-
tainability through media attention;
Enhancement o brand image; and
Stimulation o competition among peers to
achieve perormance goals.
Both the rating systems are point-based and rate a
building based on energy eciency, water eciency,
material eciency, and indoor environmental
quality. However as discussed below, they dierin their approach to the rating methodology and
benchmarks established or various criteria.
Green Buildings
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2.1 GREEN RATING FOR INTEGRATEDHABITAT ASSESSMENT (GRIHA)
It is the national green building rating system
or India, endorsed by the Ministry o New
and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government
of India (GoI). The rating system acts as an
integrating platorm or all relevant Indian codes,
standards, strategies and policy instruments
or buildings directed towards our national
priorities. It consolidates and builds upon the
National Building Code25 (NBC) 2005, the EnergyConservation Building Code (ECBC) 200726, the
environmental clearance norms and standards
mandated or large construction projects by the
Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF)27, the
energy labelling programs or appliances by the
BEE, several programs o the MNRE ocussed
on utilisation o renewable energy sources in
buildings; and the priorities set orth by the
Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) on imple-
mentation o inrastructure projects in sixty three
cities under the Jawarharlal Nehru National UrbanRenewal Mission28 (JNNURM).
GRIHA provides a rating o up to ve stars or
green buildings. Developed or new commercial
and residential buildings, the rating system sets
benchmarks or air conditioned and non air
conditioned buildings in ve climatic zones, namely
hot-dry, warm-humid, composite, temperate and
cold. A major objective o the rating is to promotepassive solar techniques or optimising indoor
visual and thermal comort; where a building is
assessed on its predicted perormance over the
entire lie cycle rom inception through operation.
The 11th Five Year Plan (2007-2012) aims to
achieve GRIHA compliance or ve million square
metres built up area, out o which about two million
square metres o built up area is registered and
GRIHA compliant (as of December 2009).
GRIHA comprises a set of 34 criteria addressing
sustainable site planning, optimised energy
perormance, use o ecient materials and
construction practices, integration o water
and waste management strategies, indoor
environmental quality and; health, comort and
safety of human beings. It is a 100+4 point system
where dierential weighting is allocated on various
criteria (Figure 11). The 4 points for innovation are
over and above the 100 points that a project may
score or compliance with the benchmarks.
Centre or Environmental Sciences and
Engineering at IIT Kanpur
Centre or Environmental Sciences and Engineering
at IIT Kanpur (Figure 12) is the rst 5 star GRIHA
rated building, in which an integrated approach
has been adopted to comply with the design,
construction and operation guidelines set orth
Health & Well-being
Materials & Resources
Water Eciency
Energy Eciency &Renewable Energy
Sustainable Site Planning
Solid Waste Management
14% 15%
6%15%
35%
15%
Figure 11: Weighting of various criteria as per GRIHA
Source: Majumdar,M.(2008).TERI
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by the rating system. Quantitative and qualitative
measures have been incorporated to achieve
and surpass perormance benchmarks or key
resources such as energy and water through imple-mentation o traditional and vernacular knowledge
o architecture along with present day technology.
The building comprises wet labs which are non-
air-conditioned spaces on ground foor and dry
labs that are air-conditioned spaces on the rst
foor. Building design and envelope has been
optimised through selection o appropriate wall
and roo construction and thorough adoption o
solar passive measures ater studying the sun path
analysis to provide shading devices or windows
and roo, which shall reduce energy demand to
condition the spaces.
All the commitments as described in GRIHA to
optimise the system design and to achieve thermal
comort in non air conditioned spaces have been
ollowed. This has resulted in annual energy
savings that exceed the perormance benchmark
or composite climates set by GRIHA. Water
conservation measures have been adopted in the
building through selection o ecient xtures and
rain water harvesting. The building uses electricity
generated by integrated photovoltaic panels. Rain
water is harvested and treated waste water is
reused or irrigation. The building is ully compliant
with the ECBC. An integrated approach to designo the building has resulted in about 59% energy
savings in the building perormance.
The base case Energy Performance Index (EPI)
o the building was 240 kWh per square metre
per annum. The envelope was improved upon by
adding ECBC compliant insulation to the external
walls and roo. Ater addressing appropriate
orientation and incorporation optimum envelope
design, the EPI reduced to 208 kWh per square
metre per annum. Next, articial lighting systems
were optimized by reducing the lighting power
density o the building rom 20 W per square metre
to less than 10 W per square metre. T5 tube lights
which are high eciency tube lights and CFL lamps
were used. The EPI reduced to 168 kWh per square
metre per annum.
Ater the lighting system was optimized, the
eciency o the HVAC system was improved by
selecting more ecient chillers. The EPI urther
reduced to 133 kWh per square metre per
annum. Next the building controls were added
Figure 12: CESE Campus , IIT Kanpur
Source: Tanuja, B.K.(2007). Kanvinde Rai & Chaudhury
Green Buildings
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to the mechanical systems primarily the HVAC.
Building controls manage the operating schedules,
temperatures, pumps etc. That is to say that the
building control systems turns up or turns downthe HVAC system according to the number o
users, time o the day, year etc. This allows or
less usage o energy when the occupancy o the
building is low or temperature outside is moderate
or in any such similar condition. This urther led to a
reduction o 25 kWh per square metre per annum.
And nally a passive Earth Air Tunnel was
coupled with the HVAC system. The earth-air
tunnel drastically reduces the energy required or
conditioning o air by utilizing the thermal properties
o earth as a heat exchanger. In the end, the nal
EPI o the building was 98kWhper square metre per
annum, a 59% reduction in energy consumption
compared to the initial stage. The nal case was
ully ECBC compliant and as a result achieved a
5-star rating on the GRIHA rating system.
2.2 LEADERSHIP IN ENERGY AND
ENVIRONMENT DESIGN (LEED)
The Indian Green Business Center (IGBC), under the
Confederation of Indian industries (CII) is facilitating
the LEED rating o the United States Green Building
Council (USGBC). Introduction of the LEED Rating
system has stimulated innovation within the building
materials supply industry. High albedo roong
materials, high perormance glass, waterless urinals,
fy ash bricks or walls, roo insulation materials, high
Indoor EnvironmentalQuality
Materials & Resources
Water Eciency
Energy Eciency &Renewable Energy
Sustainable Sites
Innovation & LEED AP
9%
22%
7%
19%
24%19%
Figure 13: Weightage of various criteria as per LEED INDIA NC
Source: Majumdar,M.(2008).TERI
CoP (coefcient of performance) chillers and energy
simulation services are now being made available in
the market.
The IGBC has launched LEED India or Existing
Buildings (EB), New Construction (NC), Core and
Shell (C&S) and Indian Green Building Council (IGBC)
Green Homes, which represent the measurable
indicators or global and local concerns in the
Indian scenario. Based on the points achieved, the
building may be eligible or LEED certied, Silver,
Gold or Platinum Rating. Weighting o criteria
refects Indian environmental priorities.
The gure 13 represents the differential weighting
given to each criterion under the LEED India NC.
Institute or Rural Research and
Development (IRRAD), Gurgaon
The IRRAD building at Gurgaon29 resides among
some o the ultra-modern high rises o Gurgaon
and meets the standards o the LEED INDIA Green
Building Rating System. Some o the key eatures
of the building are:
35 kWP photovoltaic solar panels
Energy-efcient heating/cooling and lighting
Waste-water recycling
Zero water runo rom the site
The IRRAD building provides a model or the
application o alternative energy systems at a larger
urban scale. The building (Figure 14) has been
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Figure 14: IRAAD Building and Entrance with wooden pergola (above)
Source: Tapia,J.(2009), TERI
Green Buildings
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Environmental Sciences and Engineering at IIT
Kanpur, the rst GRIHA compliant building o
India and the Institute or Rural Research and
Development (IRRAD), Gurgaon, which is a LEED
compliant building have been used as case
studies to highlight the nuances o the two green
rating systems.
Both green rating systems aim to quantiy the
environmental, economic and socio-economic
benets o green building design with emphasis
on sustainable site planning, optimized energy
perormance, ecient materials and construction
practices, water and waste management strategies;
and indoor environmental quality. The ratingsystems also emphasize lie cycle cost analysis so
that the client has an option o making inormed
choices when opting or green technologies which
may have an initial incremental cost with acceptable
pay back periods.
In order to mainstream compliance with green rating
systems, the GRIHA Secretariat has set a target to
achieve ve million square metres built up space to
be GRIHA compliant by 2012. On the other hand,
the IGBC has set a target o registering ninety three
square metres o built up space with LEED by
2012. Together, there is 1.56 million square metrecommercial built up space30 compliant with both
LEED and GRIHA. However, due to split incentives
or developers and a perceived notion o high
initial incremental costs, the demand or buildings
compliant with any green rating requires impetus.
Financial incentives in the orm o property tax
concession or other subsidies rom the government
would encourage a larger adoption o the rating
systems. A strong policy mandate at the local level
to enorce compliance is another way that may be
adopted or upscaling compliance with GRIHA orLEED rating systems.
In case it is not easible or a given building project to
be compliant with the green rating system, the BEE
also provides an option to be compliant with the
Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) which
contributes to signicant energy savings through
the operation o an ecient building, contributing
to GHG emission reduction.
Figure 19: PV panels shading the roof
Source: Lall, A.B. (2008). Ashok B Lall Arhitects
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architect to begin with) was 605kWh per squaremetre per annum. By incorporating the envelope
optimization recommendations o the ECBC, the
EPI reduced by 2% to 593kWh per square metre
per annum. The ollowing interventions in the
building envelope were incorporated:
Achieving u-value33 o 0.69W per square
metre K (as compared to 1.98W per square
metre o the base case) or external wall by
using 200mm autoclaved aerated concrete
(AAC) blocks, plastered on both sides; Achieving u-value o 0.98W per square metre K
(as compared to 2.43W per square metre K of the
base case) or roo by using 150mm reinorced
cement concrete (RCC), 65mm vermiculite,
100mm brick coba and 25mm tiles; and
Achieving u-value o 2.8W per square metre K
(as compared to 5.7W per square metre K of
the base case) with a solar heat gain coecient
(SHGC) 0.46 (reduced to 0.25 by use of external
shading) by using double glazed low emissivity
glass with a light transmission o 46%.
On a preliminary reduction o the EPI by optimization
o the building envelope, a urther 21% reduction
(cumulative with building envelope optimization) in
the EPI was achieved by optimization o articial
lighting. The lighting power density was reduced
rom 20W per square metre as in the base case
to less than 10W per square metre with energy
ecient xtures and lamps to achieve an EPI o
476kWh per square metre per annum.
Further the HVAC chiller eciency was improved
from 1.15KW per TR (air cooled chiller) to 0.61KW
per TR (water cooled screw chiller) towards
a cumulative EPI reduction by 43%. The EPI
reduced to 346 kWh per square metre per annum
by incorporation o optimized envelope, lighting
and HVAC system.
Integration o controls on the HVAC system, i.e.
variable requency drive on chilled water pumps
and air handling units urther reduced the EPI to312 kWh per square metre per annum, achieving a
total o 48% reduction in the EPI o the building.
Replication and way orward
In order to mainstream compliance with ECBC, the
BEE has taken several initiatives. Most recently
(December 2009), the ECBC shall be mandated
in eight states o India, namely, Delhi, Haryana,
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West
Bengal, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh by 201234.
Further, extensive training o architects, engineers
and consultants is being undertaken by the BEE
across India.
To encourage adherence to ECBC code, the
BEE has supported the ollowing activities in
Government/Public Sector buildings:
Ministry o Health and Family Welare
Ministry o Health and Family Welare is
developing six All India Institutes or Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) like institutions under the
Pradhan Mantri Swasthiya Yojana(PMSSY)
scheme at Bhopal, Jodhpur, Rishikesh, Patna,Bhubanshewar and Raipur. These are being
developed as ECBC compliant buildings. BEE
is providing assistance to them through their
empanelled ECBC expert architects.
National Thermal Power Corporation -
BEE is providing assistance to NTPC or their
administrative cum lab building o energy
technologies at Greater Noida to enable
compliance with ECBC. The expert architect
is providing suggestions on their existing plans
or building envelope, electrical systems,HVAC and lighting to meet with the code
requirement to the extent possible.
The Government o Delhi has approved
mandatory implementation o ECBC in
government buildings/building complexes
(new construction) including buildings/building
complexes of municipalities/local bodies,
boards, corporations, government aided
institutions and other autonomous bodies o
the city government.
Further, the National Mission on SustainableHabitat, which is a part o the National Action
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Plan on Climate Change released by the
Prime Ministers Council on Climate Change,
emphasises promotion o energy eciency in the
residential and commercial sectors through the
extension o the Energy Conservation Building
Code (ECBC), use of energy efcient appliances
and creation o mechanisms that would help
nance demand side management, providing
urther impetus to the policy initiative.
3.2 ENERGY STAR RATING OF OFFICE
BUILDINGS
In order to accelerate the energy eciency
activities in existing commercial buildings, the
BEE has developed the scheme or star rating o
buildings35. The programme is based on actual
perormance o the building, in terms o specic
energy usage (in kWh per square metre per year).
Initially, the programme targets warm humid,
composite, and hot and dry climatic zones or
air-conditioned and non- air-conditioned oce
buildings. The programme is designed to rate
oce buildings on a 1-5 star scale, with 5-Star
labeled buildings being the most energy ecient.
The star rating program or existing buildings will
subsequently be extended to other climatic zones
and building types. EPI in kWh per square metre
per year is considered or rating the building.
Bandwidths or EPI or dierent climatic zones
BEE Star rating or ofce buildings more
than 50% air conditioned in a built-up area
Climate zone: Composite
EPI (kwh/m2/year) Star Label
200-175 1 Star
175-150 2 Star
150-125 3 Star
125-100 4 Star
Below 100 5 Star
Source: Scheme or Star Rating o Ofce Buildings (2009), Bureau
o Energy Efciency, Ministry o Power, Government o India
Climate zone: Warm and Humid
EPI (kwh/m2/year) Star Label
180-155 1 Star
155-130 2 Star
130-105 3 Star
105-80 4 Star
Below 80 5 Star
Source: Scheme or Star Rating o Ofce Buildings (2009), Bureau
o Energy Efciency, Ministry o Power, Government o India
Climate zone: Hot and Dry
EPI (kwh/m2/year) Star Label
190-165 1 Star
165-140 2 Star
140-115 3 Star
115-90 4 Star
Below 90 5 Star
Source: Scheme or Star Rating o Ofce Buildings (2009), Bureau
o Energy Efciency, Ministry o Power, Government o India
BEE Star rating or ofce building less than
50% air conditioned in a built-up area
Climate zone: Composite
EPI (kwh/m2/year) Star Label
80-70 1 Star
70-60 2 Star
60-50 3 Star
50-40 4 Star
Below 40 5 Star
Source: Scheme or Star Rating o Ofce Buildings (2009), Bureau
o Energy Efciency, Ministry o Power, Government o India
Climate zone: Warm and Humid
EPI (kwh/m2/year) Star Label
85-75 1 Star
75-65 2 Star
65-55 3 Star
55-45 4 Star
Below 45 5 Star
Source: Scheme or Star Rating o Ofce Buildings (2009), Bureau
o Energy Efciency, Ministry o Power, Government o India
Climate zone: Hot and Dry
EPI (kwh/m2/year) Star Label
75-65 1 Star
65-55 2 Star
55-45 3 Star
45-35 4 Star
Below 35 5 StarSource: Scheme or Star Rating o Ofce Buildings (2009), Bureau
o Energy Efciency, Ministry o Power, Government o India
Tables 4-9: BEE Star Ratings for Office Buildings
Energy Efcient Buildings
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have been developed based on percentage air-
conditioned space. Key perormance issues to
be considered in the star rating are presented in
Tables 4 through 9.
The Star rating Programme provides public
recognition to energy ecient buildings, and
creates a demand side pull or such buildings.
Buildings with a connected load o 500 kW and
above are considered or BEE star rating scheme.
Reserve Bank o India (RBI), Bhuvneshwar
The RBI building at Bhuvneshwar, Orissa has
been awarded the rst BEE Star Rating or oce
building in India. Since the air conditioned area
o the building is more than 50% and the EPI or
the building is 82kWh/m2 per year, it lies in the
bandwidth of less than 90 kWh/m2 per year;
hence has been awarded the ve star rating. Thedetailed inormation as collected or award o
rating is appended below (Table 10).
Replication and way orward
The BEE is working towards creating a market
or energy ecient buildings through awareness
and education. It is planned that an independent
agency shall be appointed to evaluate the
program impact and process o implementation
on a periodic basis.
Primary Data Year:
No. Item Value
1 Connected Load (kW) or Contract Demand (kVA) 937.5 kW
2 Installed capacity: DG/ GG Sets (kVA or kW) 530 kva
3 Annual Electricity Consumption, purchased from Utilities (kWh) 1330000
Annual Electricity Consumption, through Diesel Generating (DG)/Gas Generating (GG) Set(s) ( kWh) -
Total Annual Electricity Consumption, Utilities + DG/GG Sets (kWh) 1330000
4 Annual Cost of Electricity, purchased from Utilities (Rs.) 5445000
b) Annual Cost of Electricity generated through DG/GG Sets (Rs.) -
Total Annual Electricity Cost, Utilities + DG/GG Sets (Rs.) 5445000
5 Area of thebuilding (excludeparking, lawn,roads, etc.)
a) Built Up Area (square metre)(Excluding Basement Area) 16220
Conditioned Area(in square metre) 11658
Conditioned Area(as % of built up area)
6 Working hours (e.g. day working /24 hour working) day7 Working days/week (e.g. 5/6/7 days per week) 5
8 Office Total no. of Employees 519
Average .no. of Persons at any time in office during office hours
9 Installed capacity of Air Conditioning System (TR) 610
10 Installed lighting load (kW) ( if available) 75
12 HSD (or any other fuel oil used, specify)/Gas Consumption in DG/GG Sets (liters/cu. meters) in the year -
13 Fuel (e.g. FO, LDO,LPG, NG) used for generating steam/water heating in the year (in appropriate units) 3200 kg
14 EPI in kWh/m2 per yearEnergy includes electricity purchased and generated ( excluding electricity generated from on-siterenewable resources)
82
15 Star Label applied for Five Star
Table 10: Building Information and Energy Data for RBI, Bhuvneshwar,
Source: BEE, 2009
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4. A Way Forward
INCORPORATING SUSTAINABLEAND GREEN BUILDING DESIGN
PARAMETERS IN THE INDIAN
BUILDING SECTOR
The ollowing sections provide an overview o
key barriers and way orward or incorporation o
sustainable and green building design parameters
in the Indian building sector. It provides an outline
o the knowledge gap at various levels, issues
pertaining to lack o eective enorcement o
policies; and lack o nancial incentives, whichdeter stakeholders rom large scale adoption o
sustainable design strategies and energy ecient
technologies. New construction in India is currently
growing at more than 10%36, and is projected to
increase. Thereore, i greenhouse gas emissions
and other unsustainable impacts o buildings are
to be minimised, the perception that high-tech,
energy intensive buildings indicate progress must
be challenged.
Even though sustainable habitat and green buildingdesign are inherent to each region o India, and
refected in the vernacular design strategies; the
process o building design, construction and
operation is increasingly infuenced by images o
buildings designed or the developed world. With
the convergence o urbanization, globalization and
a rapidly changing and expanding economy, India is
experiencing a rapid spurt in building construction
across a range o city activities and socio economic
spectrum with a direct impact on and increasing
consumption o building materials such as glass,cement, metals and ceramics.
For the process o accelerated urban development
to be socially and economically sustainable,
while curtailing the impact o GHG emissions
attributable to buildings, it is important to promote
the strategies described in this report. This is
preerential to a shit by deault to a ready-made
global technology and building type. While there
is a huge potential to achieve energy eciency by
incorporating passive design, ecient envelopeand systems, the current trend in mainstream
architecture is not toward such aims.
The materials used in modern day constructionsare not only energy intensive in their manuacture,
but combined with the sheer scale o construction
activity, contribute to increasing GHG emissions.
Energy audits conducted by TERI in 2005-06 or
buildings in Gurgaon indicate that many existing
glass intensive buildings do not respond to the
climate and require cooling even in the winter
months. In response, the ECBC attempts to restrict
gross wall area to window area ratio to a maximum o
60% and has set higher stringency levels or glazing
specications in case i glazing area is increased.Mandatory adoption o ECBC will help circumvent
this problem to a large extent. Policy measures that
encourage retrotting o existing poor perorming
buildings also need to be developed.
Knowledge gaps amongst builders, designers,
architects, policy makers, investors and consumers,
act as a major impediment to incorporation
o sustainable and green building design and
construction practices. The construction industry
remains unaware o the environmental impacts oits operations and the economic, environmental and
health benets o using green and ecient strategies,
products and appliances. Sustainable design and
energy eciency in buildings is not taught as a part o
core curriculum in any Indian school o architecture.
All architectural and engineering schools and
colleges should introduce relevant courses in their
curriculum. There is an urgent need or eective
and large-scale capacity building and awareness
generation programme at all stakeholder levels.37
First Costs: A major barrier to adoption of
sustainable principles in building is the general
apprehension o high initial cost and lack o lie
cycle cost approach to carry out cost benet
analysis. With an increasing number o green and
ecient buildings in the country, there is a need to
have collective inormation on incremental costs
and benets. This would help in overcoming the
perception that ecient, green and sustainable
buildings are expensive. All consultants providing
services to help design ecient buildings shouldollow lie cycle analysis approaches to motivate
stakeholder buy-in.
A Way Forward
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Technology gaps: Technical difculties arising forsolar water heating installations, e.g. availability o
south facing horizontal area, line losses (especially
in high rises structures), water wastage, inadequate
roo area or high rise apartments to be able to
cater to hot water requirements or all the fats,
scaling due to hardness o water, etc., need to
be addressed by manuacturers and suppliers.
Lack o knowledge on available incentives such
as subsidies and sot loans, should be addressed
through awareness campaigns and programmes.
Awareness: With reference to energy efcient
appliances, most consumers are currently unaware
about the availability o green products and
BEE-labeled products. They are also unaware o
the economic, environmental and health benets
o using such green and ecient products or
appliances. Since there is a lack o awareness about
the liecycle cost benets o ecient products, the
higher up ront cost prevents purchase. Awareness
programs should also ocus on marketing and
increasing highlighting o liecycle costs andcost-saving potential in ecient products. The
economic benets o BEE-labeled products should
be marketed urther.
Enorcement and implementation o strategies to
encourage adoption o sustainable design strategies
in buildings, use o energy ecient products
and services are required. Lack o programs or
monitoring and verication, policy mandates and
incentives, both nancial and symbolic, must be
addressed to encourage a greater participationrom the concerned stakeholders.
State and Central government building and
construction projects ollow age-old specica-
tions, which need urgent revision to incorporate
energy eciency as a sustainability parameter
among others. Although there are regulations,
there is absence o a regulatory ramework or
implementation o energy eciency in buildings.
For example, in the case o environmental
clearance of large constructions by state/centralenvironment dept/ministries, implementation and
monitoring mechanisms are totally absent. There
should be strong implementation and monitoringprotocols developed and implemented through the
establishment o independent agencies set up or
that purpose.
Mandatory environmental clearance requirements
from the central/state environmental appraisal
committees or large construction projects
also to some extent, demand incorporation o
eciency measures such as solar water heating
systems, ecient lighting systems into residential
developments. However, enorcement andmonitoring protocol should be put in place to
ensure eective implementation.
Building by-laws and urban planning by-laws do not
address sustainable building solutions. For example,
ECBC is not included into National Building Code
or in any building code. At the national level, an
attempt should be made to integrate the provisions
o energy eciency into the building by-laws.
Further, there is no mandatory requirement orminimum building energy perormance. Even
though the BEE has already made energy audits
mandatory or many government buildings, and
has planned to mandate energy audits or all
commercial buildings above a certain threshold
o connected load, it remains important to
develop mechanisms to ensure that the rec-
ommendations o the audit are implemented
in a stipulated time. Auditing combined with
certication o energy perormance could work
in tandem to ensure implementation o energyecient systems.
Lack o competitive pricing and fnancial
incentives also act as a barrier to large scale
implementation o sustainable building design.
The residential sector, which is dominated by
apartments and high-rise buildings, is developed
by builders and developers. The developers do not
benet directly by incorporating energy efcient/
green design eatures in new developments. As
can be seen in various cases, there is an issue osplit incentive or developers which needs to be
resolved or large scale adoption o green building
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design. Thus, with lack o incentives or buildersto integrate environmentally riendly eatures in
their construction, the penetration o appropriate
technologies is very limited in residential sector.
Financial incentives such as tax breaks could be
linked to rated buildings. Since there is absence
o nancial products to oset incremental costs,
A Way Forward
this would provide motivation or users to demandenergy ecient buildings and motivate developers
to provide answer such demands.
The section above highlights key steps that can be
taken up by various stakeholders in order to direct
construction towards a minimum detrimental
impact on the environment.
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About the Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiative
Launched in 2006 by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the
Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiative (SBCI), formerly the Sustainable Buildings
and Construction Initiative, is a partnership between the private sector, government,
non-government and research organizations
ormed to promote sustainable building and
construction globally.
SBCI harnesses UNEPs unique capacity to
provide a convening and harmonizing role to present a common voice from the buildingsector on climate change issues. More specically UNEP-SBCI aims to:
1. Provide a common platorm or and with all building and construction
stakeholders to collectively address sustainability issues such as climate
change;
2. Establish globally consistent climate-related building perormance baselines
and metrics or monitoring and reporting practices based on a lie cycle
approach;
3. Develop tools and strategies or achieving a wide acceptance and adoption o
sustainable building practices throughout the world;
4. Implementation - Promote adoption o the above tools & strategies by keystakeholders.
For more inormation,see www.unep.org/sbci
Promoting Policies and Practices for Sustainability
Sustainable Buildingsand Climate Initiative
About SBCI
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India has one of the fastest growing construction sectors in the world.
New construction spending has grown by as much as 10% in the last
five years and built floor area has more than doubled. This increase in
construction activity is being driven by rapid urbanization. About 30%
of Indias 221.1 million households are now in urban areas with the
urban population projected to more than double by 2050. This rapid
growth in Indias building sector no doubt presents opportunities for
improving the living conditions and livelihoods of millions of people.
However, in order to be sustainable the environmental pressures of
increased demand for resources coupled with a rapidly changing
climate must be addressed.
This State of Play report provides representative examples of the
range of sustainable building activity in India. The report explains
the state of sustainable buildings and construction in India including
best practices, successes, barriers and recommendations for further
implementation towards mitigation of climate change impacts and a
transition to more sustainable built environments.
For more information, contact:
UNEP DTIE
Sustainable Consumption and
Production Branch
15 Rue de Milan75441 Paris CEDEX 09
France
Tel: +33 1 4437 1450
Fax: +33 1 4437 1474
E-mail: [email protected]
www.unep.fr/scp/sun
www.unep.org
United Nations Environment Programme
P.O. Box 30552 Nairobi, Kenya
Tel.: ++254 (0) 20 762 1234
Fax: ++254 (0) 20 762 3927
Email: [email protected]